Footage indicator



Aug. 25, 1942. P. F. sPERRY 2,294,250

FOOTAGE INDICATR .original Filed oct. 29,1958

fg' 2' 32 92 1 33 30 /9 3g N.: 29 3Q@ 3/ 37 2Q m /5 '1 n P .0# f ,22 3536 Y f 1NvENroR,- P/e/mO/"e 5 e@ BY f@ 3 /0- f Mmm amqm' Patented 25,1942 FOOTAGE INDICATOR Philmore F. Sperry, Chicago, Ill., assignor toRevere- Camera Company, Chicago, lll., a corporation o! DelawareOriginal application October 29, 1938, Serial No.

237,667. Divided and this application August 2, 1940, Serial No. 349,396

4 Claims.

This application is being iiled as a division of my co-pendingapplication Serial No. 237,667, illed October 29, 1938, which hasresulted in Letters Patent No. 2,214,185, granted september 1o, 1940.

This invention relates to footage indicators for use in connection withmoving picture cameras or other devices in which lms are used and inconnection with which it is important that the operator shall know atall times in the use of the device how many feet of film are stillavailable for use. `It is the object of the invention, accordingly,to'provide a new and improved form and arrangement of p arts by whichthe operator can determine quickly and easily at any time the amount ofillm remaining unused in the camera. It is another object of theinvention to Y provide an improved arrangement with respect to theresetting of the indicator in each instance at the start of the exposureof a new film.

It is another object of the invention to improve mechanisms oi this typein sundry details hereinaiter pointed out. The preferred means by whichthe several objects have been attained are illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which- Fig. l is a face view of a cameraprovided with my improved footage indicator means;

Fig. 2 is a'vertical sectional view taken substantiallyat the line 2-2of Fig. 1 or the line 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on a reduced scalesubstantially at the line 3-3 of Fig. 2:

Fig. 4 is a View similar to a portion of Fig. 2 but with additionalparts shown in section;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken subf stantially at the line 55 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional View taken substantially at the curved line 6--6of Fig. 5.

Referring now to the several figures of the drawing, in whichcorresponding parts are indicated by the same reference characters, I0indicates the casing of a camera of any approved type, provided with alens system Il, a finder I2, a starting control member I3, speed controlmeans Il, and a winding cap I5 and key I6 for the spring motor I1. Inthe arrangement shown a partition I8 is provided across the casing, (seeFig. 2), with a loading reel I9 and a rewinding reel 20 rotatablymounted at the left of the partition as shown in said Fig. 2, therewinding reel being operatively connected with the motor I1 through themedium of a shaft 2| on which the reel is mounted, a pinion 22 on saidshaft mesh- 55 ing with a ring gear 23 carried by the driven housing oi'the motor. The ring gear 23 also meshes with a pinion 24 for operatingcontrol means for the film to be used in the camera. 'Ihe motor |1 isprovided with a large gear 25 which drives a pinion 26 for giving thefilm the desired intermittent movement. Inasmuch as the parts so fardescribed correspond with the showing of my said earlier application andform in and of themselves no part of the present invention, it isbelieved to be unnecessary to describe the same further herein.

My improved footage indicator comprises a plurality of teeth 21 mountedon the face of the housing of the motor I1, such teeth comprising ineffect a segmental gear of comparatively very small size angularly, suchsegmental gear being positioned concentrically about the axis of themotor. For engagement with the teeth 21 upon each complete revolution ofthe motor I1, I have provided a pinion 28 flxedly mounted on a shaft 23which is provided at its upper end with a worm 30 meshing in turn with aworm gear 3| supported by a shaft 32 extending at one end through thewall of the casing I0 of the camera. Upon the outer end of the shaft 32,I have mounted a graduated head 33 calibrated in feet of lrn. Thearrangement is such that upon each complete revolution of the housing ofthe motor I1 the shaft 29 isgiven a rotary movement for rotating veryslightly the shaft 32 and the head 33, the rotation of the head 33 beingproportional to the movement of the lm through the camera, and thegraduations in connection with the head 33 being arranged to correspondwith the movement oi' the iilm.

As is clearly shown in the drawing, (see Figs. 4, 5 and 6), theconnections between the worm `gear 3| and the shaft 32 comprise areleasable driving mechanism adapted normally to drive' the shaft 32 andthe head 33 with the worm gear but adapted to permit rotation of theshaft with respect to the worm gear when required. For attaining thisresult, I have employed a hub or collar 34 fixedly mounted on the shaft32 with a ange 34a extending outwardly from the hub, the worm gear 3|being loosely mounted upon the hub or collar. -The worm gear isyieldingly connected with the hub or collar 34 by means of a disc 35iixedly mounted upon the hub, with resilient lugs or teeth 36 on thedisc yieldingly engaging teeth 31 formed in the side face of the Wormgear 3|, (see Fig. 5). By the use of the arrangement as shown, the wormgear 3| is effective for driving the shaft 32 in counterclockwisedirection in Fig. 1 under normal operating conditions. The graduatedhead 33 and the parts connected therewith can however be rotated readilyby pressure applied manually thereon independently of rotation of theworm gear 3|, the lugs 36 being adapted to slide over the teeth 31 forpermitting the head, at the start of the use of a new lm, to be set atzero or any other desired indicating position corresponding to thelength of film available for exposure. When pressure is applied directlyupon the head 33 for turning the head and the shaft 32, the worm 30serves as a locking means for preventing rotation of the worm gear 3| soas to enable the operator easily to effect a resetting operation.

By the use of my improved arrangement, the indicator 33 is kept at alltimes in position to show the number of feet of film'still available foruse, for enabling the operator easily to cornpute the number ofexposures possible before re,- loading.

While I prefer to employ the form and arrangement of parts as shown bythe drawing and as above described, the invention is not to be limitedto such form and arrangement except so far as the claims may be solimited, it being understood that changes Imight well be made in the form and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

I claim:

1. In a mechanism of the type described, the combination of a casing, aspring motor in said casing comprising a rotatably mounted housingthrough which power is applied, means actuated by said motor forforwarding a film of predetermined length within said casing, aplurality of teeth on said housing constituting a segmental gear ofcomparatively very small size angularly, a shaft rotatably mountedadjacent to said housing, a pinion on said shaft adapted by engagementwith said segmental gear to give said shaft an intermittent rotarymovement in timed relation to the movement of the film, a second shaftrotatably mounted in said casing and extending outwardly through thewall of the casing, connections between said shafts comprising a wormand gear and yieldingly acting means for driving said second shaft andpermitting it to be turned manually independently of the first-namedshaft into changed driving relation, and an indicator on said secondshaft outside of said casing adapted to show the length of film stillunused and adapted upon the insertion of a new film to be reset by themanual turning of said shaft and indicator.

2. Inra mechanism of the type. described, the combination of a casing, aspring motor in said casing comprising a rotatably mounted housingthrough which power is 'applied from the motor, means actuated by saidmotor for forwarding a film of predetermined length within said casing,a plurality of lteeth 'on said housing constituting a segmental gear ofcomparatively very small size angularly, a shaft rotatably mounted insubstantially radial position with respect to said housing, a pinion onsaid shaft in position for engagement with said teeth at each revolutionof the housing for giving said shaft an intermittent rotary movement intimed relation to the movement of the film, a second shaft rotatablymounted in said casing at substantially right angles to side face, amember xedly mounted on said second shaft and having a resilient lugengaging the teeth on the side face of said worm gear for driving thesaid shaft releasably with said worm gear, and an indicator on saidsecond shaft outside of said casing adapted to show the length of filmstill unused and adapted to be reset upon the insertion of a new lm.

3. In a mechanism of the type described, the combination of a casing, aspring motor in said casing comprising a rotatably mounted housingthrough which power is applied from the motor, means actuated by saidmotor for forwarding a film of predetermined length within said casing,a plurality of teeth on said housing constituting a segmental gear ofcomparatively very small size angularly, a shaft rotatably mounted insubstantially radial position with respect to said housing, a pinion onsaid shaft in position for engagement with said teeth at each revolutionof the housing for giving said Shaft an intermittent rotary movement intimed relation to the movement of the film, a second shaft rotatablymounted in said casing at substantially right angles to said first-namedshaft vand extending outwardly at one end through the wall first-namedshaft, a hub fixedly mounted on said second shaft and having anoutwardly extending flange thereon, a worm gear loosely mounted on saidhub in position to mesh with said worm and having a series of teeth onits side face disposed away from said ange, a resilient disc iixedlymounted on said hub and having a lug engaging the teeth on the adjacentside face of said worm gear for driving the shaft from the gear, and anindicator on said second shaft outside of said casing adapted to showthe length of film still unused and adapted to be reset by a manualturning of said second shaft upon the insertion of a new film.

4. In a mechanism of the type described, the combination of a, casing, aspring motor,v in said casing for forwarding a film of predeterminedlength within the casing, said motor comprising a rotatably mountedhousing through which power is applied from the motor, a plurality ofteeth on the housing constituting a segmental gear of comparativelysmall size angularly, a pinion rotatably mounted in position forintermittent engagement with said segmental gear as said housingrotates, a second gear rotatably mounted adjacent to said housing, meansfor driving said second gear by powerV from said pinion, a shaft onwhich said second gear is rotatably mounted, a spring tooth carried bysaid shaft adapted by engagement with said second gear normally to drivesaid shaft but arranged so as to permit the shaft to be turned manuallyindependently of the second gear, and an indicator on said shaftcalibrated by reference to the speed of driving of said shaft by saidmotor for showing the length of film unused at any point in theoperation of the mechanism.

PHILMORE F. SPERRY.

